Routing
In fulfilling a work order, routing refers to the procedure of sending a part along its predefined build path to completion. At various work locations on your shop floor, your sub-assembly parts must go through assigned processes in order to come together in assembly. A part build path is the road map of locations and processes it has to travel through in order to arrive at its final destination.
It is important to note that in Cetec ERP the basic unit for constructing a build path is not a build operations such as cutting and drilling, but a work location which may be associated with one or more build operations e.g. a part is routed from the warehouse to assembly table, then to quality inspection table, and finally to shipping area.
Every work location has to be defined before it can be assigned to a part build path. A build path is constructed by sequentially assinging work locations from a pool of pre-defined work locations. Since the pool of all possible work locations will stay relatively stable, only the users who are given explicit privilege can create or alter work location content.
To create or alter work location content, navigate to ADMIN » Data Maintenance » OrdlineStatus. For more help on this page such as what individual data field means, hover over .
Build operations are operations performed at different work locations. This means that often there is more than one build operation assigned to a work location. In Cetec ERP, order progress is tracked by the work location that the order is sitting in, therefore the exact build operations being performed is irrelevant to tracking purposes. Instead, build operations are used to cost the build process. Each build operation is assigned a certain time value, and the sum of all time values for a work location generates the estimated time it should take to move from one work location to another.
This data can be used to calculate the labor cost involved per work location, and per assembly; and it can also be used to justify the order cost to an inquiring customer. The second use for this data is in comparing the projected versus actual time it takes to move from one work location to another.
Build path is a part-level attribute for BOM parts that defines the sequence of work locations that the part must pass through to be assembled. A work location can only be added to a build path from a list of pre-defined work locations. In order to define or edit a build path, navigate to PARTS » List then click on the part of your choice. If the part has a BOM, the left side menu will show Labor Plan. Click on the link.
To add a work location scroll down to the bottom of the page, pick the work location you want to add from the pulldown list, and click on Submit. If you want to add your default build path which is configurable at the time of installation of Cetec ERP, then click Add All Default Locations. Lastly, each work location can be edited by clicking on Edit from the build path list.
Once a build path has been defined for a BOM, the part has to be routed through its build path to be assembled. At each work location in the part build path, your shop floor workers will receive the part, work on it, report on work status, and move it along to the next work location. It is important to note that the workers will be reporting work status based on work location and not the current build operation they are performing.
Once a part arrives at a new work location, the new location should be updated. To do this, navigate to PRODUCTION » Orders » List, then click on View next to one of the open orders. This will take you to the view tab of work order page which will display on top the customer name. Right below it should be the work location field. From the pulldown list, choose the correct work location and click Set. Alternatively, a simpler way of doing this is to use the search function that is accessible universally from Cetec ERP. To the top right of Cetec ERP screen, below My Profile, My Document, and Logout buttons, you will see a search field. Type in the order number that came with the license plate, and check the box to the left of the search field. This will take you to the work order page and automatically update the part work location with the default work location for the user.
After this has been done, look to the right side of the work order view to find Work Time field. Underneath it you will see Start Work button. Click on Start Work, choose work location, type in the number of workers working in your work location (doing this will simply multiply the total work time spent at your work location by the number of workers to generate total work time), choose the appropriate worker primarily responsible for the task, and click Start Working. This will start tracking the time from the moment you pressed Start Working to the point you press Stop Work for the purpose of tracking labor cost.
Inputting routing data serves two main functions: First, it tracks and records work progress via the part work lcoation. If a customer desires a report on work progress, or a certification board requires past routing data, the information will be readily available. Second, it tracks and records the total cost of an order via build operations. The labor cost involved at each work location will be added to parts cost, generating the total cost involved in producing an end product.
To access this data, navigate to PRODUCTION » Orders List, then click on View next to the open order you want to view. At the bottom of the page you will see four sections titled: Comments, Location Changes, Queue Times, and Work History. The comments section displays all the comments added by the users at different stages of order production; Location Changes records all the work location changes that the part has gone through; Queue Times shows the time that the part has spent in each work location; and lastly, Work History lists the assigned worker, date, time spent, and labor cost per work location as well as the total amount of work entered (Total Labor Value) and the work required to complete a work order (Estimated Labor Value). If there is variance in actual time put in versus the projected time for a work location, this data can be inputted in PRODUCTION » Mgmt » Labor Variance to generate a helpful report for the manufacturers.
At each work location in the part build path, your shop floor workers will receive the part, work on it, report on work status, and move it along to the next work location. It is important to note that the workers will be reporting work status based on work location and not the current build operation they are performing.
To signal that you are starting work, navigate to PRODUCTION » Orders » List, then click on View next to one of the open orders. This will take you to the view tab of work order page which will display on top the customer name. Right below it should be the work location field. From the pulldown list, choose the correct work location and click Set. Alternatively, a simpler way of doing this is to use the search function that is accessible universally from Cetec ERP. To the top right of Cetec ERP screen, below My Profile, My Document, and Logout buttons, you will see a search field. Type in the order number that came with the license plate, and check the box to the left of the search field. This will take you to the work order page and automatically update the work location with the Cetec ERP user default work location.
After this has been done, look to the right side of the work order view to find Work Time field. Underneath it you will see Start Work button. Click on Start Work, choose work location, type in the number of workers working in your work location (doing this will simply multiply the total work time spent at your work location by the number of workers to generate total work time), choose the appropriate worker primarily responsible for the task, and click Start Working. This will start tracking the time from the moment you pressed Start Working to the point you press Stop Work for the purpose of tracking labor cost.
Work Instructions
Manufacturing companies traditionally rely on traveling work instructions packets to inform the shop floor workers of the steps involved in constructing a part. Cetec ERP eliminates the need for this traveling packet by making the work instructions readily accessible to any users using Cetec ERP. By incorporating work instructions into Cetec ERP, you can also require certain data such as signature or an assembly detail before the part in assembly can move on to its next work location. Note - you may also use paper based work order travelers; Cetec ERP will automatically generate needed work order traveler paperwork you can print out per order directly from your web browser.
Work instructions may be defined per work location you add on a BOM build path // labor plan. Or, you can maintain work instruction templates/checklists separately; to do so, see “Old Template” documentation below.
DEFINING WORK INSTRUCTIONS (Old Template)
Users with admin privileges may set or edit the work instructions per BOM revision. This means that creating a new revision for a part will require you to create new work instructions, or copy pre-existing work instructions for another part revision. The process for copying work instructions is shown here . To define or edit work instructions, navigate to Production » Orders » List » click on View to the far left of the assembly line you want to view. This will take you to the work order screen. Underneath the work location pull-down menu, notice the part number link that is colored in blue. Click on it to be taken to the BOM maintenance, then click on Revisions link. Here you can click on View underneath Work Instructions column in order to access the work instructions page.
The work instructions page will display the default template for work instructions. The default template contains several work divisions that are configurable at the time of Cetec ERP installation. Underneath each work division, the user can define work to be done and their sequence. To add an instruction, click on Add Instruction link at the bottom of each work division. Once a line indicating work to be done has been added, you can click on any of the columns for that work to edit it e.g. click under Picture column to add an instruction picture, Note to add note, etc. You can also require that a worker to check off after completing a certain work task by setting the require field. Lastly, a work instruction can be deleleted by clicking on [delete].
COPYING WORK INSTRUCTIONS (Old Template)
Work instructions are set per part revision, meaning that creating a new revision for a part, or creating a new part, requires a new set of work instructions to be coupled to the new revision or the part. To streamline this process, you can copy work instructions for any existing part revision. To do so, navigate to Production » Orders » List » click on View to the far left of the assembly line you want view. This will take you to the work order screen. Underneath the work location pull-down menu, notice the part number link that is colored in blue. Click on it to be taken to the BOM maintenance, then click on Revisions link.
From here, click on Copy underneath Pull Instructions column in order to copy the work instructions of any part in the system. After Copy Instructions to This Revision pop-up appears type in the part number of the source part that you want to copy from. You do not have to type in the exact part number. Typing a partial part number and clicking on Find will show all parts in the system that contain that string within the system. Choose the part that you want to copy from the resulting list, then specify the part revision that you would like to copy from. If anything went wrong you can start from scratch by clicking on Reset. Click Copy to complete the copying process.
When copying, do note that instructions will only be copied to locations that do not already have instructions defined. Also instruction requirements and embedded images will not be copied and will need to be added manually if desired.
LOCKING WORK INSTRUCTIONS (Old Template)
Once you are done defining or copying work instructions, you may want to prevent further changes by users without admin privilege. This can be done per part revision by locking the work instructions that are given to it. To do so, naviage to the Part Revisions screen. To the right, you will see the Lock/Unlock column. From the pull-down menu, select the desired setting.
FOLLOWING WORK INSTRUCTIONS (Old Template)
To view the work instructions attached to a part, click on Work Instructions from the left sidebar of the Work Order screen. Some work instructions might require the shop floor worker to sign off or to provide data on certain things. Areas that are editable are colored in gray so that they are easily distinguishable from the non-editable parts. It is also possible that the work instructions are set to require certain fields to be filled out before the part can move onto its next work location. If this is the case, the View tab of your work orders screen will say “Required Work Instructions!” in red. If the requirements are met, then this sign will disappear and allow the shop floor worker to move the part to its next work location. In exceptional cases when the part should move along its build path without meeting the usual requirements, the Override Requirements? checkbox can be checked, and the explanation of the action provided below. This will also let the worker to move the part along to its next work location.
Part Requests, Material Dispositioning, and Scrap
Many systems will let you add scrap factors to pad your material needs to accommodate “anticipated” or “planned” scrap. For example, if you know in advance that you’re always going to use up more material than is called for on the BOM, that’s a “scrap factor” you need to plan for.
Our strong recommendation is to build these known material scrap factors into the permanent BOM definitions. For instance, if TLA123 calls for Qty Per Top of 2 feet of raw material, but 3 feet of raw material is required to complete the job due to process loss, the BOM definition should show the required 3 feet as the Qty Per Top. 1 foot may be lost in processing (and can be considered scrap), but 3 feet of material are always required to build the part.
In lieu of modifying the permanent BOM definition to build in known/planned scrap as above (e.g. if the BOM defined on the spec or print does not reflect the actual anticipated consumption of material, and divorcing the BOM definition in the print from the BOM definition in Cetec is unacceptable) - we recommend taking care to account for the scrap in the following three crucial areas: Quoting - be sure to mark up the BOM quote to pass the cost of the additional material needed to your customer. This can be done using the Misc. Charges and Markup tools on a BOM Quote. Purchasing - when purchasing material that will be consumed on the order, make sure to buy more than what Assisted Purchasing suggests to buy. Material Handling / Picking - when picking parts for the order, make sure to “overpick” to allocate the additional material needed.
In either case, the end goal is to inflate your material requirements to ensure adequate material for the build.
During the build process, situations may arise which require scrappping and/or replacing material. To record this “incidental scrap” and allocate new material to the build, Cetec ERP routes through a part request. Click for a step-by-step guide on how to request parts and log scrap in Cetec ERP.
At any point in the build process, the user may initiate a part request, flag the part request as “Scrap”, and log how many units of the raw material are being scrapped. This will communicate the need for additional material to the warehouse/purchasing team with need for additional material for a certain order, and will also segment out the material cost of the request as scrap.
Parts in the build process that do not need to be scrapped can be shipped partially; the remaining material will be split off onto a separate order line item and may be set to work location of “awaiting parts” or “awaiting scrap resolution”.